Metro News & Reviews

Gold Line Foothill Extension starts pre-revenue testing today

There’s been plenty of test trains rolling along the Gold Line extension to Azusa in the past few months, but now it’s time for the final run-up to the opening. Pre-revenue testing on the new line begins today and will continue until the extension’s opening day on March 5.

Pre-revenue testing is intended to more or less simulate actual service with trains running on a regular schedule, but with no customers on board. Because this testing is for an extension of an existing line, you might see some additional trains from Union Station to Pasadena between 8:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. These trains will be in-service for customers up to Sierra Madre Villa Station, but no passengers will be permitted to ride beyond that point. Metro and law enforcement personnel will be available at Sierra Madre Villa throughout pre-revenue testing.

As we near the opening of the extension, we’re asking everyone to please remain vigilant around the train tracks, new and old, and obey all warning signs and traffic signals. Safety is everyone’s priority!

Is a new timetable for the Gold Line coming out soon? I searched but only could find a schedule current as of Dec. 13, 2015. Will trains that run along the “current” line run as frequently as they do now?

The Green LIne probably won’t get them until Crenshaw opens but the Blue Line will share the new trains with the Expo line. Metro is slowly getting the new trains so probably by the end of 2016 should be lots in service.

All the new trains will go to Expo for quite a while. There won’t even be enough trains for Expo to operate at full capacity until probably 2017. You are probably looking at 2018 until new trains will come to the Blue Line.

My question, will the construction at the Little Tokyo/Arts District station be complete in time for the arrival of the Gold Line extension? Or, will there still be a break in the Gold Line before it can even make a full trip from the Atlantic Station all the way into Azusa?

Why does Metro not order trains with a uniform look? The Green Line, Gold Line, and Expo Line seem they will all have different train styles. I understand some of the trains are older, but the newer ones don’t even look like updated versions, they look like entirely new styles. Trains have gone from white with blue (I think), to white with orange, to entirely silver (my favorite look), and now grey with yellow. I would love some uniformity or at least an undated modernization of the previous iteration rather than an entirely different style.